It’s not a secret that NBA players have taken a strong political and social stance lately. They don’t want to have anything to do with Donald Trump or the Republican Party whatsoever and pushed for team owners to turn the arenas into early-voting centers ahead of the elections.
However, it seems like Russell Westbrook and James Harden may have taken their political stance to a whole new level, as Rich Buchner of Bleacher Report recently said that Rockets’ owner Tilman Fertitta’s support and donations to the GOP is one of the reasons why they – and other players – want to leave the team:
“I’m hearing that Tilman Fertitta’s strong Republican support and donations is one of the things that is contributing to this dissatisfaction, and those two are not the only ones to want out of Houston,” Buchner said, as reported by The Hoop Central
“I’m hearing that Tilman Fertitta’s strong Republican support and donations is one of the things that is contributing to this dissatisfaction, and those two are not the only ones to want out of Houston.”
– Via @RicBucher on a reported reason Harden/Russ wants out of Houston. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/loj3Lkzisl
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 17, 2020
It goes without saying that NBA team owners are quite wealthy politically-connected, and that’s one of the reasons why the boycott was more important than people thought in the first place. Those are the people who can make a difference and help inspire true change.
Then, assuming this is the case, this will be an unprecedented turn of events from the NBA and it will send a blunt message that not even the league’s PR department is going to be able to flip in their favor. If that’s the truth, the NBA is going to continue turning heads and being a subject of controversies among Americans.
